Adjustable door support



April 29, 1952 M. CARLSON 2,595,187

ADJUSTABLE DOOR SUPPORT Filed June 23, 1948 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Apr. 29, 1952 ADJUSTABLE noon SUPPORT Martin Carlson, Brookfield, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to George W. Houlsby, Jr.,

Chicago, 111.,

Application June 23, 1948, S erial No. 34,632

6 Claims. (Cl. 16129) My invention relates in general to door sup ports and more in particular to an adjustable door support for a swinging door of the type employing a door closing and checking mechanism.

In those installations in which doors are mounted to swing in both directions,'and in some instances in which the door is mounted to swing in only a single direction, it is common to employ vertically positioned hinge pins, one of which comprises the spindle of a door closing and checking mechanism. While the door checking mechanism may be mounted above or below, it is common to mount it in the floor where its position becomes, for all practical purposes, non-adjustable. It follows, therefore, that the door itself must be adjustable, and various expedients have been suggested to position the door relative to the spindle for adjustment of the former.

So far as I know, there is no relatively simple adjustable door support of the character described which will maintain itself in a position to which it has beenadjusted even after long periods of use.

The principal object of my invention is the provision of an improved doorv support of the character referred to.

Another object is the provision of animproved adjusting mechanism for door supports so constructed and arranged that an adjustment will always be maintained.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view partly broken away showing a swinging door and indicating generally the manner of its support;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the top and bottom supports;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary exploded isometric view showing particularly the lower supporting mechanism.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken approximately along the line 44 of Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an adjusting screw forming a part of the invention;

Fig. 6 is an end view showing a modified adjusting screw; and

l2 which is suitably inserted in the top of the door with a hinge pin [3 engaged in the inner race of the ball bearing, and also engaging in a bracket I4 suitably mounted in the frame above the door and generally lying flush therewith. In actual practise, the pin I3 is usually made vertically adjustable to provide a simple means for mounting the door in position on its pivots. My invention is not concerned with this feature, however, and no details with respect thereto are given.

-At the bottom, I provide a suitable door'closing and check mechanism such as shown in my copending application, Serial Number 20,515, filed April 12, 1948, of which this application is a continuation in part, or other suitable mechanism intended to perform the same general functions. Such mechanism has as an integral part thereof an upwardly extending spindle l 6 having an upper portion of non-circular cross section which projects into a hinge arm I1. The hinge arm I! is, therefore, immovable radially or horizontally with respect to the spindle l6, and adjustment between the door and spindle must also comprise an adjustment between the door and the said arm H.

The bottom of the door is provided with a recess I8 in which the arm I! lies concealed, and above this recess the door carries an arm plate l9 and an arm plate pin 2| projecting downwardly therefrom. The arm I! has a slot 22 running longitudinally thereof into which the pin 2| projects, and an adjusting screw 23 is threaded into an end of the arm and has its inner end projecting into the slot 22 and into contact with the pin 2i. It will be understood that with the parts occupying the position shown, the weight of the door II will cause the pin 2| to engage against adjusting screw 23 so that by turning the adjusting screw 23, the door I I may be lined up in its frame and with respect to the door [0. The effect is to change the position of the spindle I6 and arm Ilwith respect to the door.

To maintain the position to which the screw 23 has been adjusted, I provide a channel, in the end thereof into which the rounded shank of the pin 2| is caused to extend. It is obvious that when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 4, the engagement of the pin 2| against the channelled end of the adjusting screw is such as will prevent the adjusting screw from turning. If, bjgany chance, the screw has not been adjusted to,;;this position, any slight turning of the adjusting screw will result in its reaching the position shown in Fig. 4 and further rotation will be prevented. Turning of the screw is easily accomplished by partially rotating the door and inserting a screw driver or other suitable tool through an opening 26 in the back of the door in alignment with the adjusting screw.

The adjusting screw shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is the same as shown in the main embodiment and can be used in the identical fashion except that in place of having a single end channel 24 it has two such channels. In Figs. 6 and 7, I have employed the same reference characters as in the main embodiment with the prefix I to indicate modification. The provision of two channels results in there being four high points I25, and permits the adjusting screw to have an at rest position at each quarter turn instead of at each half turn. It is to be understood that the end channel need not have any particular shape so long as it will receive the rounded portion of the pin 2| in such a manner as to prevent rotation of the adjusting screw. The channel may, in other words, be arcuate, oval, V-shaped, or it may have any contour which will provide a channel for locking purposes.

Essentially, my invention provides locking means associated with and preferably forming part of the adjusting screw 23 and pin 21. More specifically, pin 2! may be shaped in various ways, and, in eiiect, the locking structure may comprise the reverse of that shown.

As a practical proposition, a door support of the character described must also provide means for adjusting the door generally about a vertical pivot, for example, to align the contiguous edges of the doors I and l I. My invention permits the employment of any suitable adjustment of this type and I indicate in Fig. 3 one suitable arrangement comprising screws 21 which are threaded from opposite directions into the narrowed end of the arm I'l. Oval slots 23 are provided in the door, and washers 29 are provided to prevent the heads of the screws from passing through the slots and to cover the same. Thus, by tightening one screw 2'! and loosening the other, the door may be adjusted in the manner postulated.

I have described my invention in detail but the scope thereof is defined in the claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A door support of the character described comprising an upwardly projecting spindle, a hinge arm carried on said spindle, means for adjustably supporting said arm in a recess at the bottom of a door, said arm having a longitudinal slot therein, a pin adapted to project from the door into said slot, and an adjusting screw threaded in the arm, and extending longitudinally into the slot into contact with said pin, said adjusting screw having at least one axial channel at the end in contact with the pin.

2. A door support of the character described comprising a spindle, a hinge arm carried on the spindle, means including a pin for connection to the door projecting into a slot in the arm in a position to one side of said spindle for adjustabl associating the arm and door in such manner to rotatably support the door with respect to the spindle, an adjusting screw threaded in the arm and extending longitudinally into the said slot and having its end engaging the said pin and means efiective between said screw end and the pin for locking the screw against accidental rotation.

3. A support as defined in claim 2 wherein said pin is round, and said screw has at least one end channel in which the said rounded portion of the pin engages.

4. An adjustable door support combination, comprising an upwardly projecting non-circular spindle, a hinge arm adapted to be disposed in a bottom recess of a door and longitudinally adjustably supported therein, said arm having a slot to receive said spindle and a second slot rearwardly spaced from the first mentioned slot and extending longitudinally of the said arm, a pin adapted to be attached to the door and projecting downwardly within the second mentioned slot, the said pin having a diameter approximately equal to the width of the said second slot, and an adjusting screw threaded in an end portion of the arm and extending into said second slot longitudinally thereof into contact with said pin, said screw having an end channel to inhibit its turning when in contact with the pin whereby the pivot point of the door with respect to the spindle may be adjusted, and such adjustment maintained.

5. A door support of the character described comprising a spindle, a hinge arm carried on the spindle, means including a pin for connection to a door projecting into a slot in the arm in a position to one side of said spindle for adjustably associating the arm and door in such manner to rotatably support the door with respect to the spindle, an adjusting screw threaded in the arm and extending longitudinally into said slot and having its end engaging the said pin, and means effective between the said screw and the pin for locking the screw against accidental rotation.

6. A door support of the character described comprising a rotatable spindle to be fixed in a position near the rearward edge of a door, a swinging member attached to the spindle and adapted to rotate therewith, a member for attachment to the door, the last said member having a cavity therein to encompass said swinging member loosely, means forming a projection in said cavity attached to the cavity forming member and extending loosely into an opening in said swinging member, and an adjustment member accessible at the rearward end of said swinging member operating between said projection and said swinging member to shift the position of said projection within said opening so as to shift the position of the door attached to said projection relative to the spindle attached to the swinging member.

MARTIN CARLSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,286,509 Roby June 16, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 462,061 Great Britain Mar. 2, 1937 

